An Umbrella Stranger
by mantisgirl
Summary: Comfort can be found in the most unlikely places and warmth on the most unlikely days.


It was unusually cold for August. _I should've grabbed a cloak_, he thought in retrospect. His body shivered involuntarily. The rain didn't help much either. It was pouring and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was still only sixteen so he couldn't use a warm or drying charm on himself so that he wouldn't be cold anymore. His features twisted into a cross between a grimace and a smirk. If he had stayed in his parents' house he would've been able to use it. It was a perk of being from such an old family, the Ministry generally looked the other way when their children used their magic outside of school.

Sirius finally picked up his head to take a look around at the road he was on. There wasn't really anyone else on it given the weather conditions. A young girl was a few yards in front of him and an elderly man a few yards back, both with umbrellas_. Smart buggers_, he thought ruefully. Thankfully, James lived in a more muggle area so it wasn't likely that either of these people would recognize who he was . That was a small blessing though since it wasn't likely that any of the other families would've heard yet to condemn him so they'd likely help him first.

He'd managed to lose himself in his thoughts when he just about ran into the girl who was in front of him. She was looking at him and smiling a bit sadly. "Here," she said as she offered Sirius space under her umbrella. Sirius merely stared at her blankly, kindness hadn't usually come from strangers without something attached to it. Especially not where he came from. The girl nearly laughed at his expression. "Don't worry, I don't bite," she said warmly. At that, Sirius couldn't help but grin.

"S'not you I'm worried about, love," he responded, not bothering to keep the sadness out of his voice. At this, she laughed. "I'll take my chances," she said forcing the umbrella over his head. Sirius smiled at the girl and really began to look at her. She was a muggle, he could tell that by the way she was dressed with jeans and a sweatshirt instead of robes. She was pretty, but not unusually so. Her eyes were what made him accept without further excuses though. They were blue but that wasn't even the right word for them. There was something more to them than just blue, he didn't know what the word for it was though so he had to settle for blue.

They walked down the road for a bit in a comfortable silence. It was strange since most silences with people you've just met were awkward, but this was not. It was almost as if she could sense that he didn't want to talk. When they were just coming to the bend in the road before James's place, she looked up at him. "You know, this sort of weather makes me wonder what the devil we're doing here," she said jokingly, "Why live up here when we could live somewhere that doesn't do this?"

Sirius glanced at her. She wasn't looking at him, just talking in a very general sense. This sort of companionship was exactly what he needed in this moment. Because of this fact, instead of going off to where he knew James's house was, he stayed and walked with her a bit more. "I know what you mean," he agreed, "Can't imagine why my parents would choose to be here of all places…" He let his voice trail off as he realized what he'd just said. It hadn't really hit him that he didn't have a family anymore until that moment.

The girl looked up at him and noticed the look in his eyes. It was far away, he wasn't really there anymore. "I'm sorry," she said softly. Sirius shook his head and smiled. "No…it's okay, I think," he reassured her. He looked around a bit, he'd walked further than he'd intended. "Damn," he muttered. The girl gave him a concerned glance.

"Something wrong?" she ventured.

"Just missed my field," he replied, "Sorry, I've got to go back a bit. Thank you though." The girl looked a bit sad. "Oh," she said, "You're welcome, I suppose." He left the safety of an umbrella and started back down the way they'd come. Sirius couldn't help the urge to look back at the girl. She was still standing where he had left her with her umbrella. He gave her a small wave and continued on his way.

The girl sighed. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something very important about that boy. His eyes had been haunted by something, but it was too big to talk about under an umbrella. She'd probably never see him again so that didn't matter. As he walked away from her though, she felt like she was going to miss something big.


End file.
